Sample Test Paper – 4
English Core
Class XII
Time: 90 Minutes M.M: 50
General Instructions:
1. All questions are compulsory.
2. Separate instructions are given with each question. Read them carefully and follow them faithfully
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.
Q1. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow: 10
1. South India is known for its music and for its arts and rich literature. Madras or Chennai can be called the cultural capital and the soul of Mother India. The city is built low in pleasant contrast to the ghoulish tall structures of Mumbai and Kolkata. It has vast open spaces and ample greenery. The majestic spacious Mount Road looks like a river, wide and deep. A stroll on the Marina beach in the evening with the sea glistening in your face is refreshing. The breeze soothes the body, it refreshes the mind, sharpens the tongue and brightens the intellect.
2. One can never feel dull in Chennai. The intellectual and cultural life of the city is something of a marvel. Every street corner of Chennai has a literary forum, a debating society and music, dance and dramatic club. The intelligent arguments, the sparkling wit and dashing irony enliven both the political and the literary meetings. There is a young men’s association which attracts brilliant speakers and equally brilliant listeners to its meetings. It is a treat to watch the speakers use their oratorical weapons. Chennai speakers are by and large sweet and urbane, though the cantankerous, fire-eating variety is quite often witnessed in political campaigning. The more urbane speakers weave their arguments slowly like the unfolding of a leisurely Karnataka raga.
3. Music concerts and dance performances draw packed houses. There is hardly any cultural family in Chennai that does not learn and patronize music and dance in its pristine purity. Rukmani Devi Arundale’s ‘Kalakshetra’ is a renowned international centre. It has turned out hundreds of celebrated maestros and dancers who have brought name and glory to our country. Karnataka music has a peculiar charm of its own. It has the moon’s soft beauty and moon’s soft pace. Thousands of people flock to the temple ‘maidans’ to get drunk with the mellifluous melodies of their favorite singers. They sit out all night in them grueling heat, swaying to the rhythm of ‘nadaswaram’ and rollicking with the measured beats of ‘mridangam’. M.S Subbulakshmi is considered to be the nightingale of the South.
4. The Gods might descend from heaven to see a South Indian damsel dancing. There are several varieties of South Indian dance – Bharat Natyam, Mohini Attam, Odissi, Kathakali etc. age cannot wither nor custom stale its beautiful variety. Bharat Natyam is the most graceful and enchanting dance form whereas Kathakali is most masculine and virile. South Indian dances combine voluptuousness with purity. Here every muscle and fibre of the body vibrates into life, and as the tempo increases, a divine flame-like passion bodies forth as if making an assault on heaven.
5. South Indian dress, particularly of the males, is puritanically simple. There you cannot distinguish a judge from an ‘ardali’ by their dress. South Indian ladies too look charming and graceful in their colourful Kanjeevaram and Mysore silk saris.
6. South Indian cuisine, especially ‘dosa’, ‘idli’ and ‘vada’ are so delicious that now we can enjoy them almost everywhere in India as well as in some foreign countries. The Madras ‘idli’, which was a favourite of Gandhiji is served with ‘sambhar’ and coconut ‘chutney’.
(I) On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer the following questions by choosing the most appropriate option. (2 Marks)
1. South India is known mainly for its
(a) Tasty food
(b) Traditional music, art, literature
(c) Scenic beauty
(d) Delicate and precise ways
2. South Indian dances are special because
(a) Gods come from heaven to see them
(b) There aren’t many varieties of dance
(c) They are pure as well as sensuous
(d) They make an assault on heaven
(II) Answer the following questions as briefly as possible. (1×6 = 6 Marks)
3. How does the breeze on Marina Beach affect the author?
4. How do we know that music is very important for the people of South India?
5. What is the common connection between language, music and dance of South India?
6. What makes Karnataka music charming?
7. Enumerate the features of Bharat Natyam and Kathakali form of dance.
8. What is Kalakshetra renowned for?
(III) Find words from the passage which are similar in meaning to the following.
(2 Marks)
(a) Ill-tempered and quarrelsome (Paragraph 2)
(b) Smooth and sweet (Paragraph 3)
Q2. Praveen Chandra of 38-G, Gokulpuri, Palam, New Delhi wants to let out a portion of his house only to foreigners/ Central Govt. employees. Draft a suitable advertisement to be published in the To-Let column of a national daily giving necessary details. 4
OR
Design a poster on Cruelty to Animals to create love and sympathy for animals in the general masses. You are secretary of Animal Welfare Club of Shantikunj, Delhi. 4
Q3. You are Aman/Avantika of 25-A, Anand Niketan, New Delhi. Write a letter to the editor of a national daily about rising prices of essential commodities. Give suggestions on how to control the price rise. 6
OR
Read the advertisement given below and write a letter applying for a job. Also give your detailed resume to be sent along with the letter. You are Praveen/ Prachi of 87-D, Shalimar Garden, New Delhi. 6
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Situation Vacant
Wanted Post Graduate Teacher in Physics to teach Senior Secondary classes in a reputed school in South Delhi. Candidate should have a minimum of three years teaching experience. Apply to The Times of India, Post Box No. 127, New Delhi.
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Q4.Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: 3
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness; but will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Questions:
1. How is a thing of beauty a joy forever? 1
2. Why doesn’t a beautiful thing pass into nothingness? 1
3. What does the poet mean by “A bower quiet for us”? 1
Q5. Answer any five of the following in about 30-40 words each: 3×5 = 15
(a) What did the peddler think of the world and its people?
(b) Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers of Muzaffarpur?
(c) What are the things that give pains and sufferings to man?
(d) Why didn’t Roger Skunk’s mommy like her son smelling like roses?
(b) Why did Gandhi chide the lawyers of Muzaffarpur?
(c) What are the things that give pains and sufferings to man?
(d) Why didn’t Roger Skunk’s mommy like her son smelling like roses?
(e) Why does Derry go back to Mr. Lamb?
(f) Why did Rajkumar Shukla meet Gandhi?
Q6. Answer any one of the following in about 125-150 words each: 6
(a) Give an account of Gandhiji’s efforts to secure justice for the poor Indigo sharecroppers of Champaran.
(b) How did Mr. Lamb’s meeting with Derry become a turning point in Derry’s life?
Q7. Answer any one of the following in about 125-150 words each: 6
(a) How does Griffin keep Marvel under his control?
(b) Who was Dr. Kemp? What did Dr. Kemp see from the window of his study room?
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Good sample paper